The Laurent House’s big claim to fame is that it was designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in the late 1940s and is the only house he designed to be accessible to people with disabilities. So, it’s a one-story home. And it is comparatively smaller than Tinker or Erlander, both two-stories with basements built in the mid-1800s.

The 2,600-square-foot Laurent House is minimalist and sleek, with built-in cabinets and drawers. The space is open, without walls between the kitchen and living areas. A 50-foot-long wall of windows is a big feature.

The Erlander and Tinker homes were built in or around the Victorian era, though Tinker more resembles a Swiss chalet with overhanging eaves. The rooms and windows in each house are comparatively smaller, and the architecture more ornate than the Laurent House at 4646 Spring Brook Road.

“They’re different architectural styles,” Leah Nelson told me, comparing the Erlander and Laurent homes. She is a member of the board of the Laurent House Foundation, which owns and operates the Laurent House. She also is a member of the Swedish Historical Society, which owns and operates the Erlander home.

Wright’s style is “so horizontal,” she said. “A Victorian house is so fussy.”

Erlander is packed with more than 3,000 items, including a collection of handmade dolls wearing costumes from 27 provinces in Sweden. Linens and rugs of many types are displayed.

Tinker, with its 22 rooms, displays a half-dozen pieces of wood furniture, including coffee tables and chairs, made from roots gathered from neighboring Kent Creek. Clothes, letters, dishes and artwork also pack the place.

The Rockford Park District owns the Tinker property at 411 Kent St. Tinker owns the artifacts inside, much of which was owned by Robert and Mary Tinker, who built their house. Robert was a former Rockford mayor. He married Mary, widow of John H. Manny, who invented a reaper to harvest crops. Tinker gets about 12,000 visitors a year, said Steve Litteral, executive director.

John Erlander was a furniture maker. His wife, Mary, was an artist who painted borders in their home at 404 S. Third St. About 3,000 people a year visit the Erlander Home, Nelson said.

Page 2 of 2 - Wright designed the Laurent House for Kenneth Laurent, a factory statistician who used a wheelchair, and his wife, Phyllis, a retail store operator. Both died in 2012. Furniture that Wright designed for the house is on display, as well as documents and letters written between the Laurents and Wright.

“Erlander tells a story for fans of Swedish heritage,” said John Groh, president and chief executive officer of the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Tinker is very unique, exotic, inspired by what (Robert Tinker) found in travels in Europe.

“The Laurent House is mid-century design and the only Frank Lloyd Wright house in Winnebago County.”